IBM Canada Wins Contract to Work on Mass Gun Confiscations
TheGunBlog.ca — IBM applied for and won a contract to work with Canada’s governing Liberal Party and the RCMP on their mass gun confiscations targeting hunters, sport shooters and firearm collectors.
The Liberals will pay International Business Machines Corp.’s Canadian unit $1.2 million to design how to pay any gun owners and businesses that submit to the forced seizures, according to today’s contract notice at BuyAndSell.gc.ca.
Liberals + RCMP + IBM
IBM joins the Liberals and Royal Canadian Mounted Police in working to take away precious belongings from hundreds of thousands of people among Canada’s 2.2 million federally licensed firearm users and 4,500 firearm businesses.
They’re enabling a handful of Liberal politicians to crack down on honest citizens, as the federal government and federal police work to weaken individuals, hurt the firearm industry and kill modern shooting sports.
More Canadian Than Hockey
Hunting and shooting are at the heart of Canadian culture, tradition and the economy.
- Millions of families and individuals have guns for everything from personal protection and pest control to feeding their communities and competing in the Olympics.
- More Canadian adults have a federal firearm Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL) than play hockey.
- The firearm industry directly employs almost 50,000 people, and indirectly contributes to tens of thousands more jobs.
Two-Phase Contract
IBM’s confiscation work for the Department of Public Safety in Ottawa consists of two phases, the contract notice said.
- Phase One: IBM consults with government departments, with work ending by March 31.
- Phase Two: The Liberals have the option to hire IBM for confiscation advice for up to two more years.
The company, which made rifles during World War II, is one of the world’s largest computer-services providers. It already does hundreds of millions of dollars of business with government departments including the RCMP.
Criminalize and Confiscate
The Liberals’ May 1 confiscation order threatens safe and responsible gun owners with criminal charges and jail unless they allow police to seize their suddenly blacklisted rifles and shotguns by 30 April 2022.
Owners risk jail now if they buy, sell, use, or travel with any of the newly banned property.
TheGunBlog.ca isn’t aware of anyone who intends to surrender their gear, and is aware of many owners who intend to keep it.
The crackdown will cost taxpayers hundreds of millions or billions of dollars, and almost certainly fail.
Toxic Contract
The Liberals have struggled to hire contractors for their attacks.
- Their first call for bids on this contract failed to attract any bidders, the Toronto Sun has reported.
- IBM was the only one of 15 invited companies to bid in the second attempt.
- Altis Human Resources (Ottawa) Inc. canceled a smaller confiscation-related contract the day after it became public following an online backlash.
Update Dec. 31: Several readers have told TheGunBlog.ca they contacted IBM to share their concerns. We’ve also invited IBM to comment.
Government Comment
TheGunBlog.ca invited Public Safety to provide any additional details on the IBM contract.
Tim Warmington, a ministry spokesperson, responded by e-mail.
Through a rigorous RFP process, the Government of Canada has awarded a contract to IBM Canada to support the Government on the development, design, and implementation of the buy-back program for recently prohibited firearms. The program will focus on ensuring it offers fair compensation to affected owners and businesses while at the same time making sure program implementation and management costs are well-priced and sustainable.
In conjunction with the prohibition of over 1,500 assault-style firearms introduced on May 1, 2020, the Government announced its intention to bring forward a buy-back program as soon as possible.
Further information on the design of the buy-back program and any potential compensation for affected firearms will be provided once it is available.
Department of Public Safety, Response to TheGunBlog.ca, 30 December 2020
Massive Opposition
Grassroots and institutional opposition to the Liberal-RCMP attacks is strong and rising.
- More than 230,000 people signed a petition to stop them, in the biggest online petition in House of Commons history.
- Alberta and Saskatchewan are among provinces working to block them.
- Police across Canada oppose them, including the RCMP’s own labour union.
- At least seven challenges are in Federal Court to block the confiscation orders as abusive, illegal and unconstitutional.
- More than 140 individuals are in provincial courts fighting for their rights under Section 74 of the Firearms Act.
- The Conservative Party has promised to stop the Liberal attacks if it wins the next election, expected in 2021.
Contract Award Notice, 30 December 2020
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